Who is Alfred Jarry?
Alfred Jarry was a French playwright, poet, novelist, and journalist whose work prefigured Dadaism and the Theatre of the Absurd. His best known work, the five-act play Ubu Roi (1896), was scandalous, surreal, and full of despicable characters. After the play’s debut, Jarry began to take on the persona of Ubu, becoming increasingly bizarre and developing an absurd philosophy he dubbed ‘pataphysics. Despite his difficult public behavior, Jarry gained a cult following among younger artists of his day, becoming a hero to such people as Guillaume Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso. Born on 8 September 1873, Jarry began developing the character of Ubu as a young student in Brittany. He and his friends routinely joked about a teacher of theirs, Hébert, who evolved in their imagination into the truly grotesque figure of Père Heb, the original of Ubu. The group wrote a marionette play starring the figure, called Le Polonais, which Jarry would later rework into Ubu Roi. Jarry moved to Paris at the a
Alfred Jarry was a French playwright, poet, novelist, and journalist whose work prefigured Dadaism and the Theatre of the Absurd. His best known work, the five-act play Ubu Roi (1896), was scandalous, surreal, and full of despicable characters. After the play’s debut, Jarry began to take on the persona of Ubu, becoming increasingly bizarre and developing an absurd philosophy he dubbed ‘pataphysics. Despite his difficult public behavior, Jarry gained a cult following among younger artists of his day, becoming a hero to such people as Guillaume Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso. Born on 8 September 1873, Jarry began developing the character of Ubu as a young student in Brittany. He and his friends routinely joked about a teacher of theirs, H bert, who evolved in their imagination into the truly grotesque figure of P re Heb, the original of Ubu. The group wrote a marionette play starring the figure, called Le Polonais, which Jarry would later rework into Ubu Roi. Jarry moved to Paris at the a
Alfred Jarry was a French playwright, poet, novelist, and journalist whose work prefigured Dadaism and the Theatre of the Absurd. His best known work, the five-act play Ubu Roi (1896), was scandalous, surreal, and full of despicable characters. After the play’s debut, Jarry began to take on the persona of Ubu, becoming increasingly bizarre and developing an absurd philosophy he dubbed ‘pataphysics. Despite his difficult public behavior, Jarry gained a cult following among younger artists of his day, becoming a hero to such people as Guillaume Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso. Born on 8 September 1873, Jarry began developing the character of Ubu as a young student in Brittany. He and his friends routinely joked about a teacher of theirs, Hébert, who evolved in their imagination into the truly grotesque figure of Père Heb, the original of Ubu. The group wrote a marionette play starring the figure, called Le Polonais, which Jarry would later rework into Ubu Roi. Jarry moved to Paris at the
